Planning Ahead....

This morning I had the pleasure of briefly sharing about our 2013 work in Chaoyang, as well as plugging the 2014 trip to my church body.  Along with the slideshow and meaningful lyrics, I focused on the perspective of a first timer on the trip...

Signups for the June 25-July 6 trip are already taking place. You may do so and/or learn more at the Visiting Orphans website.  The team is comprised of not just members from my church, but from various Christian denominations across the United States that come together for one purpose, to fulfill the mandate of James 1:27 to "visit orphans and widows in their distress." Feel free to message or post any questions you may have.  It may be one of the most meaningful things you ever take....

With Honors...

Yesterday was Joshua's birthday.  I mailed him a box full of cereal, mac-n-cheese, brownies, etc. earlier in the week. We  Skyped with him while he opened his presents, but it wasn't the same for either of us.  Josh pretty much whispered the entire time, as his room mate was sleeping. Turns out his roomie actually sleeps often, after staying up late playing video games.  From the sound of things Josh isn't too thrilled about the overall situation. But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, Josh opened his gifts while we watched him open them.  He then was off to church followed by a wonderful celebration dinner at Panda Express with new friends! So I guess I shouldn't worry about him being too lonely!

On Saturday I erroneously opened his mail when sorting through my junk mail. Here is what I found...

We already knew his results, as he received college credit for four classes. But it was a timely reminder of how proud I am of him, and reassuring that he will be successful where he is.

Down to Two...

We are down to just two "first days" of school this year, well, that is if you don't count Mike and I, because we will forever have first days of school! Here they were their first morning...

After two days, both are singing high praises of their teachers, and Kaia even responded that Math was her favorite subject so far. Wow, that's a turnaround from last year! Let's just hope the entire year stays this positive!

And yes, technically both boys had/have "first days" of school this year, but for some reason they don't like the first day photos anymore.  Josh has finished three weeks of college so far, and from the little correspondence I get from him on school, he says things are going well. Club wrestling has started for him, and we are hoping he will wrestle close enough this season so that we can go cheer him on once again. We haven't seen a schedule yet, but maybe he will be in a gym near you. Kellen has another week before his school begins. My nocturnal child is still working on switching his body clock around to daytime hours.  Good thing he doesn't have any a.m. classes scheduled!

Birthday Blues...

My boys have birthdays just ten days apart. When they were little, since they shared most of the same group of friends, we got away with just one birthday party between the two dates. At 22 and 19, those days are long gone!  For the first time ever, both boys are/will be away from us on their special day.  Kellen had vacation last week, so he went down to visit with family that he hadn't seen in quite some time. When he got home on Saturday we had a belated celebration, but it's not quite the same thing.

As you can see, Kellen was super excited about the gift his sisters gave him. A few months back he found they had ruined his most favorite ever music CD, Space Jam, and he was not pleased. Well they not only replaced it, but updated his much viewed VHS of the same name to a DVD. Welcome to 2013 Kellen!

The next day Jaelyn's Islander team took the Burlington U11 Labor Day soccer tournament by taking first place. It was an amazingly beautiful weekend; a much needed change from the previous two tournaments she has played in so far.

So now Josh's birthday is just three days away, and like Kellen, he will be spending it away from us. Only I had to send him his gifts, as it will be awhile before we see him. Sniff, sniff...

1800+ miles...

1800 is the number of miles we drove in 10 days, winding up our summer.  Here's the brief summary...

575 on Sylvia in three days, which I might add she averaged 33.8 mpg, to my 30th class reunion!

Excuse the flash on the left, but this photo was too good of us not to post. We are truly BFF's, since freshman year!

Touring the old stomping grounds. Yep, that's me hanging off the "P."

Once home, the following day we packed up the van for the 371 mile monotonous drive to WSU...

Josh's longtime friend Dakota helped move in.

Sweet photo of two of my favorite boys!

Love this one!

Stadium is right in the center of the campus. This is a patio off of the Student Union where you can watch from.

Another view from the patio.

These two bad boys on Kaia and Jaelyn's bikes! Think they're ready for college?

 Next day, 400 miles to meet up with family in Sun River...

Fun with Uncle Rob and Aunt Alisha

Don't worry, Jaelyn came up smiling.

Kaia wisely plugged her nose at the end!

Hanging with Uncle Cory and new friend Isaac.

As you can see, we hung out a lot at the SHARC. The girls would barely stop to eat, so would be famished when we would get back to the condo! Unfortunately we did not get to see Mame much, as she was suffering from a pinch nerve and spent most of the time in bed:(

Four days later, a quick 178 miles to Portland for a quick visit with family, then the final 265 miles one day later.

If you have been following my blog this summer, you know I have done an unusual amount of traveling this summer. Where I have loved every minute of it, I must confess that I am sleeping much more soundly in my own bed now, and looking forward to getting into the routine of school soon. I can't believe I just typed that!

Welcome Sylvia...

We have a rather unusual tradition at the Crebbin household of naming our vehicles. Over the years we have had Betsy (our Pathfinder), Tori (Taurus), Vanna (2007 Grand Caravan), Yvette (Kellen's Aveo), etc.  And now we tearfully say goodbye to Goldie (2001 Grand Caravan), and Hello Sexy Sylvia!

 

Apology...

Friday we had to apologize to all the locals for a torrential day of rain. You see, we basically made it the entire month of July without any measurable rain. Then comes August, generally our best month of the year. Jaelyn was scheduled to have her first soccer game with the Whidbey Islanders. That's where the apology came in. Soccer = rain! I even had to go out and buy a golf umbrella.  Thankfully it wasn't too cold, as we got wet cheering her on despite the weather.  They ended in a tie, not bad for their first game. Jaelyn even had an assist.

The rest of the weekend was back to our beautiful summer weather. Sunday we browsed the Anacortes Arts & Crafts Festival, where the girls got these (not sure what the reptile theme was about)...

Josh is off at camp this week, his last hurrah before he heads to school.  Mike finished the deck redo in back, so projects are winding up.  We are not done with summer yet though. Cramming in two more trips this month. Stay tuned...